Man Gets Probation In Warehouse Fraud Scheme

Scott Kaminsky had been operating his wholesale business for just five months when he told police that someone had broken into his warehouse and stolen $1.4 million in women`s clothing.

The only problem was that someone had seen him loading the merchandise into a truck two days before.

``He apparently had sold all of the merchandise to an import-export company in Miami,`` said Broward Assistant State Attorney Kent Neal, chief of the Economic Crime Unit.

It all added up to a 10-year probation term as Kaminsky, 32, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to operating an organized scheme to defraud and six counts of grand theft.

Broward Circuit Judge Leonard Fleet also ordered Kaminsky, who now works in a betting shop in Las Vegas, Nev., to pay $65,763 in restitution to six clothing suppliers cited in the criminal charges.

``As part of a negotiated plea with the court, he agreed to make restitution ... but he apparently needs some time to do it,`` Neal said.

Kaminsky had started S & K Sales in a warehouse in the 4700 block of Southwest 45th Street, north of Hollywood, in March 1981, Neal said.

His mentor was a cousin, Paul Finkelstein, 43, of Dade County, who is now under house arrest while serving a two-year probation term for a similar fraud involving a jewelry store in 1982, court records show.

``Finkelstein testified ... that he had assisted Scott in setting up the business and had invested money in it,`` Neal said.

Using $100,000 deposited in a bank account, Kaminsky was able to establish lines of credit with at least 12 clothing suppliers as he began making purchases for his stock, Neal said.

But, as Kaminsky made bigger buys from the suppliers, he was stockpiling the clothing in the warehouse instead of attempting to peddle it to retailers, Neal said.

Neal said Kaminsky removed the clothing on Aug. 8, 1981, and sold it to an import-export company called Ivy Hill Apparel Inc. in Hialeah, but investigators don`t know much about that deal.

Kaminsky had been a fugitive on the charges from June 1983 until last July, when a Las Vegas police officer making a traffic stop discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest.